Troy police say a quiet residential driveway was doubling as something closer to a fireworks warehouse, after officers hauled away more than 6,000 pounds of pyrotechnics from a home on Orchard Court.
According to court documents, officers executed a search at the home of James and Rachel Ellis on June 12 and removed about 2,800 pounds of fireworks from the attached garage, plus roughly 3,160 pounds from a gray enclosed trailer parked in the driveway. The total haul, about 6,040 pounds, was loaded up and moved to a secure state bunker while investigators and prosecutors decide whether to file charges.
The search followed neighbor complaints about frequent deliveries, pallet unloading and what appeared to be on-site sales, according to court records. As reported by the The Telegraph, detectives say the trailer was outfitted with shelving and price tags like a retail shop, and shipment paperwork showed boxes from American Eagle Fireworks addressed to “Big E Fireworks” at the Orchard Court address.
How Police Say The Cache Was Set Up
Assistant Police Chief Andy Evans told reporters this was far more than “a pack of sparklers” and described the stash as a serious risk to public safety, the Belleville News-Democrat reported. To safely clear the scene on June 12, Troy detectives called in backup from the Illinois Secretary of State Bomb Squad, an FBI bomb technician and a blast specialist with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
Court filings state the 24-foot trailer at the property was registered to Water Doctors of Greater St. Louis, with Rachel Ellis listed as company president. What normally might haul equipment for a water-treatment business was instead, investigators say, stacked with consumer fireworks that could be bought and loaded up without leaving the neighborhood.
What The Rules Say About Fireworks Stockpiles
Federal and state regulations spell out strict rules for storing large amounts of explosives, including consumer fireworks. ATF guidelines require a licensed magazine holding between 1,001 and 5,000 pounds of product to sit roughly 230 feet from any inhabited building, and Illinois law layers on its own permitting rules and certified-magazine requirements for large stockpiles.
The affidavit filed in Madison County states detectives did not find a pyrotechnic operator license at the Ellis property. For federal distance rules, see the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives at ATF, and for state-level requirements, see the Illinois administrative code posted by the Illinois General Assembly.
How Investigators Tracked The Shipments
Police say the case started when a neighbor noticed tractor-trailers making deliveries in late May, followed by pallets of boxes being unloaded and moved into the enclosed trailer. The same neighbor later reported seeing the family shifting boxes between the trailer and the garage.
According to The Telegraph, bill-of-lading records tied at least one shipment to American Eagle Fireworks in Lansing, Michigan. Detectives allege the trailer and garage were being used to store and sell consumer fireworks without the required permits and at distances that fell well short of the buffer zones laid out in federal guidance.
Investigation Status And What Comes Next
The Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office says the matter remains under investigation and that no criminal charges have been filed at this time. Officials report the Secretary of State Bomb Squad transported the seized fireworks to a secure bunker after the search.
As the Belleville News-Democrat notes, a judge has approved seizure proceedings for the fireworks, although additional court dates have not yet been scheduled. Investigators are asking anyone with information related to the operation to contact Troy police.
